(DRbiG's) Powered Vehicle Design Primer

Hello fellow engineers! In this document we'll explore, elaborate and exemplify powered vehicle design concerns.

A fair amount of vehicle construction knowledge is assumed, but hopefully not necessary to gain insight by reading this document. We will be basing our discussion on the latest experimental available, along with the vehicle additions mod. We are doing cutting-edge science here.

(CDDA version: 0.C-4203-gdf57ca6, document version: draft-4)

Introduction

Building an awesome vehicle is a balancing act. You can't have everything, and nothing will fit all roles (but with enough luck and persistence you can have a vehicle for every occasion).

The first question you have to answer yourself before you think about design is "what will be the role of my vehicle?". The answer to that question is crucial to making good trade-offs during the design. Having answered that you need to decide how much are you committed to the design - vehicle parts don't grow on trees, and ad-hoc vehicles, while better than nothing, are usually far from optimal.

We can easily distinguish three main roles:

1. Looters/Explorers

   These vehicles focus on mobility. Usually no larger than 3x3 and limited in range, but with decent cargo space and very low maintenance costs they are perfect for all the city exploration and looting needs.

2. General purpose/Deathmobiles

   These vehicles fall in the middle of the scale. They are too big for great mobility, but too small to hold a proper mobile base. Most vehicles you can find in the world will fall into this category. They serve as a very good basis of going either way on this scale, and are the most customizable role.

3. Mobile bases

   The largest vehicles that have everything for you to be completely self-sustainable. They have great range at the expense of mobility and fuel efficiency. The RV, Mobile Meth Lab and the coveted Military Cargo Truck serve as the best base vehicles for this role.

Being a soft-scale there are no hard definitions except on the ends: a vehicle wider than 2 or 3 tiles will get stuck somewhere sooner or later, and a vehicle that doesn't make you completely self-sustainable is not a mobile base.

In terms of materials always consider the looting vs. crafting angle. You might be better off making a vehicle forge and hand-making that FOODCO Kitchen Buddy form scratch than scavenging for that one last component you are missing.

Basics

Full part names are written in title capitalization, e.g. FOODCO Kitchen Buddy, Water Faucet, Storage Battery.

Quick recap of the important basics:

1. Wheels

   Can be easily categorized by sturdiness: roller drums, armored, wide, "normal". Remember that roller drums will severely limit what else you can install on the same tile.

2. Batteries

   Can be easily categorized by capacity: motorbike, car, truck, storage. The swappable variant of storage battery also needs a case and is not that useful on its own.

3. Lighting

   It can be either external or internal. The external lighting is compromised of: the headlight (and its reinforced variant) which is a directional cone, and the floodlight which is a high-power full-dome light at the expense of power draw. The internal lighting is all full-dome, and is compromised of: dome light which comes along with vehicles controls and is low-radius and thus very low power, and aisle light which has more radius but draws more power.

4. Vision

   Remember you can extend your vision with Wing Mirrors (easy to get, very fragile) and/or Security Cameras and Camera Monitors (much more sturdy and useful, but also much more rare).

5. Your safety

   5-Point Harness whenever possible, Seatbelt otherwise. Never underestimate inertia.

6. Vehicle mounted tools

   The essential bits for mobile bases and any mid-and-up range vehicles.

   1. Minifridge

      Essential for preserving perishable items. You should always consider having at least one for anything larger than a motorbike.

   2. Kitchen

      Basically a vehicle powered Hotplate. Remember that you will still need the usual kitchen utensils (you can keep them in the same tile though).

   3. FOODCO Kitchen Buddy

      A multi-purpose device with colorful description. Its kitchen functionality includes a Vacuum Sealer and Food Dehydrator. For some reason it also includes Hand Press & Die Set.

   4. Chemistry Set

      Lets you cook the less edible stuff. Essential if you plan to explore the mutation paths.

   5. Electric Forge

      For all your melting and casting needs. Remember that you will still need a good bunch of other tools for proper metal working.

   6. Welding Rig

      Enables your vehicle to be (almost) self-repairing. Remember that you will still need a Pair of Welding Googles and that it only works within 6 tile radius.

   7. Recharging Station

      Often omitted contraption that lets you charge all the battery-powered gizmos - but only after you install a Rechargeable Battery Mod on them.

Design concerns

The real business. We will go over the concerns in general order of importance.

Size

Size is the width and height of your vehicle in tiles. It will influence everything else and as such is not a thing you can easily change mid-way (without starting the design from scratch).

1. Mobility

   As already indicated a big vehicle will inevitably have problems moving on. This means not only getting stuck in a middle of a Z-filled city centre, but also traversing a forested area. You can offset this with "hard parts" such as roller drums for wheels and rams, but don't relay on it too much (trees are incredibly sturdy, and so are reinforced walls/tonnes of wreckage).

2. Cargo space

   To get the same cargo volume as any ground tile you'll need 4 Cargo Carriers. Empirical data shows that around 9 Cargo Carriers (9000 volume) is perfectly fine for a mobile base. Be aware that if you install more you'll just hoard more - without any real increase in utility.

3. Solid walls

   Solid walls offer you protection from the outside world but severely limit what else you can put on a tile. Remember that vehicle mounted tools are impassable (but still let light through). You'd most likely like to have the section you plan to sleep in walled off. Walls make much less sense for smaller vehicles.

4. Mounted tools

   Important for mobile bases - also limit what else you can put. The arrangement is also crucial for utility (more on that later).

5. Speed and fuel efficiency

   Not that important if you can get the right engine(s).

Utility

The second most important factor overall and the most important factor for your happiness.

Utility means everything working together smoothly. It means crafting anything anytime. It means no hauling stuff around. It means knowing exactly what is going on all the time. It means having stuff right where and when you needed it, when you need it. It means your vehicle not coming apart at the worst time possible. It means never having to thing about electricity reserves. It means... Yes, it's hard to describe in single sentence, but you'll feel it instantly.

1. Structural design

   That's the "not falling apart" bit. Remember: the front of your vehicle will be the first thing to hit stuff and be damaged. Also remember about the sides: when you're not aligned along a cardinal direction the outer tiles that are "at angle" will be hitting stuff just as if they were at front. Putting solar panels at the outer edges of your vehicle is therefore not the best idea, same as not having some "crumple zone" in front of your driver's seat.

2. Item access

   Keep the stuff you need most close to you. A Reclining Seat might look great as it's essentially a "bed and seat in one", but it won't hold much. Having to go that 3 tiles further into your vehicle for that First Aid Kit will make the difference one day (and that'll be your last day).

3. Crafting

   To craft you'll need: tools, proper lighting, raw materials and perhaps books. A high-utility design will have all these placed in a way that'll enable you to craft anything you want, anytime, without ever having to manually haul anything. You can use anything within 6 tiles radius from where you're standing for crafting. Remember Aisle Lights. Think about it, it will pay off tremendously.

4. Sleeping/Resting area

   To have an inside tile (and thus be shielded from the elements) you'll need to have the surrounding 8 tiles roofed/walled. That's the reason you'll need at least a 3x3 vehicle to be able to sleep comfortably. You should also consider lighting here (to be able to kill the evenings with reading; and Curtains to sleep well despite the summer sun) and food access (to have that morning coffee quickly).

5. External access

   Consider at least the four cardinal directions your vehicle may be parked along. You might need to run away fast, or you might be carrying all that sweet back-breaking loot. Having quick and safe access can make your life so much easier.

Resources

Foremost it's about electricity. You'll need it for your vehicle to even start, you'll need it for lighting, for vehicle mounted tools. Right after that you'll need at least water.

1. Alternators

   If you have an engine you better have an alternator. The truck alternator gives you most juice and as such should be your default choice for your main engine (as long as that engine can still do its job that is). This obviously doesn't apply to electric vehicles.

2. Batteries

   Again a truck battery is your default. Scaling down for smaller vehicles should be obvious. The other way around you have storage batteries. The swappable variant is not so much of use for most vehicles though. Again remember that more doesn't necessarily mean better.

3. Solar panels

   Can give you zero-maintenance electricity if done right. Obviously go for the better grades whenever possible, and remember to keep some spares - they're fragile. Due to that fragility putting them on the outer edges is not the best idea. Optimal designs will have enough panels for your vehicle to easily maintain 90% - 100% electricity levels with "normal daily usage". Again more is not always better.

4. Tanks

   That is fuel and (clean) water tanks. Like with the panels you don't want them to be the first thing to fell off. You should keep them behind your "crumple zone" and off the edges. Remember that water tanks need no piping - you can put Water Faucets wherever they are needed. Given they weigh a lot finding a good balance for your use case will be a trial-and-error affair.

Structural integrity

That's toughness of your vehicle's basic parts.

1. Frames

   Again more doesn't mean better. The difference in availability between the light and heavy frames is huge. And so is their mass. Putting the heavy stuff at the "curmple zones" and the lightest stuff for axillary, out-of-harms-way things may net you lower initial and maintenance costs as well as lower overall mass.

2. Plating

   Always plate your edges. The Military Composite Armor is your best choice, but anything here is better than nothing. Plating interiors along "crumple zones" is worth considering too. But remember the mass and maintenance costs.

3. Walls and windshields

   Reinforced Windshields are your default. Stow Boards give you some cargo space, and Quarter Boards exchange protection for vision range and getting light in (and out). Proper composition will yield you protection, utility, vision and optimal mass.

Engines, speed and fuel efficiency

Depend directly on our previous choices and are usually just a matter of finding the right engine(s) for the job.

1. Speed

   Sure you can get insane "safe speeds" - they are useless. Top safe speed in range of 100 km/h (62 mph) ~ 200 km/h (124 mph) will be more than enough and actually be possible to use safely. Feel free to run your "awesome" vehicle into a river at 600 km/h (372 mph).

2. Fuel efficiency

   The less you consume the better. Explorer vehicles should top at 2, mobile bases may go above 4 - if it is justified in utility. Remember you can have multiple engines and switch them on and off independently.

3. Engines

   Gasoline is the most abundant high-power fuel. If you feel paranoid a spare diesel engine might be worth it. Electric engines are silent, therefore make most sense for smaller vehicles. Don't rely on anything more fancy. Plutonium is rare. Remember to not put your main engine in any of the "crumple zones". Having additional spare engine is not a bad idea.

4. Mufflers

   You should have at least one for the liquid fuel engines. It reduces the noise and gives you a bit more efficiency. You may add more for redundancy (they are also fragile), but remember to look at speed/weight/fuel consumption factors.

Weapons

Unless you have something specific on mind or just want the coolness factor up most weapons are actually of little practical utility.

1. Spikes etc.

   Better install a front ram and plate the sides. Spikes will increase your vehicle size and require additional maintenance for little actual benefit.

2. M2 Browning HMG

   Given the high power and relatively accessible ammunition they are worth consideration. Remember though that they are also relatively fragile and that the automated firing may do you more harm than good. On manual fire they do have some utility, but nothing you couldn't replace with other skills and items.

3. Other guns

   Mostly coolness factor and additional work. If you find any generally useful purpose for them remember to fill in your lab journal and report back!

Practical design study

Let's put our theory into practice and analyse some actual designs. All illustrations shows ever vehicle tile (they are animated). Work in progress.

Looters/Explorers

Exhibit A - Ninja (by Zorbeltuss)

http://i.imgur.com/wcZxCKb.png

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Exhibit B - Pirate (by dRbiG)

http://i.imgur.com/jC3pmFW.gif

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Exhibit C - Archaeologist (by Zorbeltuss)

http://i.imgur.com/WE4s2nH.gif

Afterword

We hope this document prompted you to think more about your powered vehicle design.

This document will loose the "(DRbiG's)" part at some points. It should provide higher-level view of vehicle design, prompt thinking and show off some practical designs.

Contribution guide

Always welcome contributions:

1. Grammar and language fixes
2. Factual corrections (the guide should follow current experimental builds)

Design blueprints

We strive for consistent and comprehensive design examples. Therefore the end product is always an animated GIF done according to these rules:

1. Show only vehicle construction menu in the default layout
2. Show every vehicle tile
   1. Order is top-down, left-right
   2. 5 seconds per frame
3. Loop the animation

You should first share your blueprint online and ask the opinion of at least one contributor to the guide. This is a soft-rule to ensure the designs presented here explore different approaches.

If you're not comfortable with making an animated GIF feel free to upload individual frames (according to the applicable rules) in a way that makes it easy to download them all at once (e.g. an album on Imgur).

You can catch the current contributors on IRC (as of 2015-07-04).

Design analysis

Feel free to analyse the examples following the design concerns of this primer. Remember to follow the formatting of other examples and to appropriately indicate your authorship. Please try to follow the style too (we're doing science here!).

Remember that the point here is to provoke thoughts about the trade-offs of each design. Mark your subjectivity clearly, and remember that if it moves it can't be 'utter crap'. And no design will ever be 'perfect' either.